"The Obama administration has the wrong mind-set on our future U.S. military posture in Afghanistan. Exit should not be the strategy or objective. Protection of the homeland is the right metric. Instead of trying to leave by a given date, we should be planning to stay."

"There is only one problem, though. The Iraqi National Guard does not yet exist. Even if many able officers and soldiers are available to join it, it will take some time to determine the characteristics of the force and then create it, meaning that operations to retake the Sunni Arab heartland from ISIS would probably have to wait until 2015."

"Rather than view that as an excuse not to be involved, the United States should seize the opportunity to contribute to a greater international effort to help turn Africa gradually from a zone of conflict to a zone of hope. Doing so will be good for America's own security and economic interests, as well as humanitarian ones."

On Tuesday in USA Today, AHS speakers Michael Doran and Michael O'Hanlon explain how negotiations between Assad and the opposition are not based on reality:

“This week, elements of the Syrian opposition are scheduled to begin negotiations in Geneva with representatives of President Bashar Assad. Absent a miracle, the talks will fail. The goal of each side is the complete defeat of the other. But neither has the means to accomplish such objectives, or even understand this profound disconnect."